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IR laws threaten council jobs

News Release

IR laws threaten council jobs

The Local Government Association of Queensland has used a parliamentary hearing to warn that the proposed Industrial Relations Act would lead to more job losses in councils.

The LGAQ appeared before the Finance and Administration Committee on Wednesday to state its case for a single local government award and object to elements of the legislation introduced by the State Government.

Following the public hearing, LGAQ chief executive officer Greg Hallam said councils needed to modernise their operations to remain sustainable and maintain a relevant local workforce.

“The industrial relations system needs to help council efforts which, in turn, will help the workers,” he said.

“Councils share this Government’s commitment to jobs but their efforts are being undone by the imposition of an award system and industrial arrangements that threaten local government jobs.

“The facts speak for themselves – the single local government award creates jobs but complicated, multiple awards do not.”

Analysis by the LGAQ shows that between 2014 and 2016, councils under the single modern award collectively recorded a 1.61 per cent increase in job numbers.

However the remaining councils collectively recorded a 2.04 per cent decrease.

Mr Hallam said a single award promoted fairness across councils’ workforces because it would discourage differing allowances being paid for essentially the same type of work.